Yuvarathnaa

• Puneeth Rajkumar was reported to sign his next film with Santhosh Ananddram, after completing the production works of his film Natasaarvabhowma (2019).
• The film marks the second collaboration between Puneeth Rajkumar and Ananddram after Raajakumara (2017). Vijay Kiragandur of Hombale Films was reported to produce the film after working on the duo’s previous flick.
• On 10 October 2018, the makers announced that the film’s title will be launched by one of his lucky fans, and also stated that the team might consider using a title from Rajkumar’s 200-odd films, but might contain a new element.
• On 23 October 2018, Puneeth Raajkumar took to Instagram to announce that the entire Raajakumara team (which consists of Puneeth Rajkumar, Ananddram, music composer V. Harikrishna and Hombale Films) will be joining this project. An event to launch the film’s title was held at the Cauvery Theatre in Bangalore on 1 November 2018 (Kannada Rajyotsava), where the title was revealed to be Yuvarathnaa.
• According to reports, Puneeth Rajkumar would play a college student in the film, for which he lost weight.
• On 1 December 2018, the team hosted auditions for budding actors and actresses to feature in the film. The makers reported that around 200 new talents were auditioned and shortlisted.
• Initially, Tamannaah was set to play the female lead, which would have been her full-fledged Kannada debut after appearing in item numbers in Jaguar (2016) and K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2019); however it was later reported that Tamil actress Sayyeshaa was confirmed for the role.
• Veteran Tamil actress Raadhika Sarathkumar joined the cast in March 2019, marking her comeback in the Kannada film industry after 32 years. Her last appearance in a Kannada film was in the 1987 film Sathyam Shivam Sundaram; however, she did not appear in the final cut of the film.
• Boman Irani was reported to play a pivotal role in the film, making his debut in Kannada.
• The film had a formal launch in the presence of its cast and crew on 12 December 2018.
• The principal photography of the film began on 14 February 2019 in Dharwad and wrapped up within six days. The film’s second schedule started in Maharaja’s College in Mysore in late February. The third schedule of the film kickstarted on 22 March.
• During the intermediate schedule on 8 April 2019, Puneeth’s elder brother Raghavendra Rajkumar visited the sets. After a long break, the team resumed the fifth schedule of shoot in Dharwad in June 2019.
• It was reported that the team may kickstart the song shoot before November 2019.
• On 1 February 2020, Santhosh Ananddram tweeted about the song shoot choreographed by Jani Master. In late February, sources reported that two songs will be filmed in Europe, from late February to early March 2020.
• Amidst a coronavirus scare, the makers decided to shoot the songs in Austria and Slovenia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the makers called off the overseas shooting schedules, and the film’s shoot was further affected by pandemic-related restrictions.
• On 26 September 2020, Puneeth Rajkumar and his team resumed the final schedule for two songs in India. On 12 October 2020, the team announced that they have wrapped the shoot of the film.
• Yuvarathnaa was originally slated to release on the eve of Dussehra, on 7 October 2019. However, the delay in the post-production works of the film made the makers postpone its release to December 2019, later to January 2020. In late December, the makers announced that the film will be released on 3 April 2020. However, in late February 2020, the makers announced that the film’s release will be rescheduled for 8 May 2020, which was further postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• In November 2020, it was announced that the film will also be released in dubbed versions of Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi languages along with the Kannada version. On the occasion of New Year’s Day, the makers announced new theatrical release dates of 1 April 2021 in India, 31 March 2021 in the USA, and 10 April 2021 in Singapore.
• The film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, with an appreciation for Puneeth’s performance.
• The film, along with its dubbed versions, was made available to stream a week later through Amazon Prime Video on 9 April 2021 due to the COVID-19 restrictions in Karnataka and was telecasted on Udaya TV on 14 January 2022, during the eve of Makara Sankranthi.

Awards

10th South Indian International Movie Awards

• Best Film – Vijay Kiragandur (Nominated
• Best Actor – Puneeth Rajkumar (Won)
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Sonu Gowda (Nominated)
• Best Actor in a Negative Role – Dhananjaya (Nominated)
• Best Music Director – Thaman S (Nominated)
• Best Male Playback Singer – Armaan Malik, Thaman S (“Neenade Naa”) (Won)
• Best Female Playback Singer – Ramya Behara (“Oorigobba Raja”) (Nominated)

Filmfare Awards South 2022

• Best Choreographer – Jani Master (“Feel the Power”) (Won)